


the way to a girl's heart

by seungvvannie (galaxygerbil)



Category: Red Velvet (K-pop Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe – Animal Shelters, F/F, Minor Kang Seulgi/Kim Yerim | Yeri, Oh Hayoung (minor appearance)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2020-08-11 04:44:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20147836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galaxygerbil/pseuds/seungvvannie
Summary: joohyun gets a parking ticket. in the end, she somehow has to bulk order a ton of newspapers— after buying lots of ballpoint pens, that is.or something like that.





	the way to a girl's heart

**Author's Note:**

  * For [croathia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/croathia/gifts).

joohyun tries not to jump at the sudden bell chime that rings when she enters the shelter.

she reluctantly breathes the pungent smell of animal wafting through the air, listens intently to the sounds of barking, and opts to have her eyes quickly scan every corner as if a frightening creature was waiting to come out at every corner. her senses were on overdrive. this dog shelter is basically enemy territory.

“hi. are you looking to adopt?”

joohyun’s eyes don’t stop jerking between every free space on the tiled floor that she sees. she wishes she brought seungwan with her. “no,” she responds, finally looking up to find a woman eyeing joohyun’s outfit that covered every inch of skin— complete with a facemask as well as a cap. “I’m here to pay off a parking ticket.”

the other woman nods solemnly and walks around the reception desk, clicking a pen and moving some forms around. “well— ”

joohyun takes this time to observe the other woman and wonders just how she can deal with all of this— the gross smell and the frightening sounds. at least the environment is clean.

“can’t I just… pay and go?” she asks. she’d rather never step into this crazy hellscape again.

sooyoung (as joohyun figures out from the name-tag) seems to take offense. there’s a frown that shows up on her face before it’s immediately replaced with an obviously fake smile. “no,” she tonelessly replies. then she gestures with a palm towards joohyun. “let me see your total and I can give you a list of what to buy.”

  
  


when joohyun finds herself at the the third pet store in a row with a confused clerk looking at her like she speaks in an alien language, she’s one hundred percent sure that sooyoung did this on purpose.

  
  


“_hello?_”

joohyun sits at one of the park benches while the sun sets behind her. “seungwannie. that place where you buy manen’s food—”

“—_just a second_—” and at this joohyun hears a scuffle as if the person on the line is covering the receiver. seungwan hisses something unintelligible, at least to joohyun, before she returns. “_what was that about manen?_”

“I was going to ask if they also sell dog food at the corner of 32nd and 5th, where you buy manen’s hamster... things.”

“_oh, of course they do. it’s a huge marketplace for things like that_.” joohyun isn’t surprised that she had no idea about this. she’s neither the type of person to go around the city nor pay unheeded attention around pet stuff— and it’s not like her best friend ever asks her to buy things for manen. “_what dog food do you have to buy?_”

joohyun tells her.

“_uh,_” seungwan starts to say. “_I don’t think those are real brands._”

the woman only rolls her eyes in response. figures.

  
  


joohyun comes back a few days later, wearing a similar outfit that covered everything but her eyes and ears (for spotting menacing dogs before they reach her). “they must have run out of the dog food you were talking about,” she states when she faces sooyoung at the reception desk once again.

the taller woman looks at her curiously before nodding. “oh, yes. they must have.” the younger— and joohyun is sure sooyoung is younger, because she still has that mischievous glint in her eyes that she sometimes sees in her sister yerim— woman acquiesces. then she brings out another list and grins. “you can buy medicine, instead.”

  
  


“maybe you said something that got her mad, unnie?”

joohyun pauses with the food halfway to her mouth. she carefully sets it down. “what made you say that?”

seulgi shrugs and twirls the pasta around her fork. “I was just thinking out loud.”

yerim only cackles. “want to know what _I’m _thinking?” she asks, smirk in place. seulgi, because only either a saint or a masochist would be willing to be yerim’s girlfriend, encourages her by tilting her head in askance. “I’m wondering why unnie doesn’t just pay her parking ticket online like a normal person.”

joohyun feels her ears turning red in embarrassment. 

“oh!” seulgi cuts in. “joohyun-unnie has never been good with technology. right? you said so.”

it’s a good out, and this only confirms that seulgi is a saint, but joohyun had already been able to pay for her parking fines online several times before. this one was just— well, she delayed it because she was busy. for four months. causing her fine to multiply. and luckily, their city recently allowed fines to be payable through donating food to the dog shelter. exactly four months ago.

“she could’ve asked us— or seungwan-unnie.” yerim gives joohyun a knowing, yet somehow maniacal, grin. “but she didn’t.”

seulgi then looks to joohyun as well, who was sure that her face was burning bright at the stares aimed at her and how yerim basically hit the nail on the head. not that she’s voiced it out loud yet, but knowing yerim, she-

“I think unnie has a _crush _on the girl at the dog shelter— the very same one that’s bullying her.”

  
  


she places the bag of medicine on the counter.

sooyoung looks stressed and overwhelmed this time, with her hair a little disheveled and the bags under her eyes more obvious. when she spots joohyun— or, rather, the medicine on the counter— her demeanor changes immediately to excitement. she ruffles through the bag and smiles when she finds one bottle she’s looking for.

joohyun eyes it but doesn’t understand— it just had a pug with its head tilted as the cover.

“these are great.” sooyoung nods frantically, then signs the form that shows joohyun’s fine has been paid through the shelter. “you just have to have this checked by an attorney, submit it to city hall, and you’re good to go.”

joohyun gulps and pulls down her mask. it’s the least she can do if this is the last time she can interact with her without seeming like a creep. “sure.”

sooyoung doesn’t even spare her a look and turns towards the cages of whining puppies, the medicine placed carefully in her hand.

joohyun feels even more out of place here in sooyoung’s world. she looks around and finds herself not as disgusted by the sight and smell— but it’s not like that matters now.

she gathers her papers and eventually walks away, too.

  
  


joohyun hugs the pillow tighter. she’s on the couch while seungwan sits on the floor as they make use of seungwan’s sister’s netflix account. it’s not like she minds.

“wannie,” joohyun murmurs. “what other things do dog shelters need besides non-existent dog food brands and medicine with a pug as its cover?”

her best friend doesn’t even miss a beat and brings out her phone to search. “let’s see— it says here newspapers are a big thing for them.”

joohyun frowns. it’s not easy finding newspapers nowadays. maybe she could ask seulgi, with her paper mache creations she probably knows where to find them in bulk. but that could take a while. “anything else?”

seungwan hums thoughtfully. “pens could be useful too. you can buy some from the bookstore tomorrow and bring it there by midday.”

a good feeling flutters and spreads from the middle of joohyun’s chest. “you’re the best.”

seungwan responds with a click of her tongue, a wink, and a finger gun.

  
  


“hi. are you looking to adopt?”

joohyun does a double take at the woman manning the reception desk. not sooyoung— _hayoung_, her name-tag says— and the woman finds herself disappointed. “no. I was just…”

she stops talking. then she places the tub of one hundred ballpoint pens on the desk and leaves.

  
  


joohyun decides to save herself from the disappointment and doesn’t return to the shelter for a good long while.

  
  


so sooyoung finds her, instead.

“so this is where you work, huh.”

joohyun’s head snaps up. sooyoung is standing just a meter away under the roof of the bus stop, with just her, joohyun, and the rain. the taller woman’s eyes are locked onto the building joohyun walked out of.

“a stalker?” joohyun jokes and pulls her large shoulder bag nearer to herself.

sooyoung snorts. “you wish. I just had an errand to run around the area.” she takes a seat beside joohyun. she smells like flowers— joohyun has no idea why it’s weird to find out that sooyoung smells good. did she think the woman smelled perpetually like dogs or something? 

“I have a question.”

joohyun blinks. “okay.”

“did you steal pens from your office job to donate to the shelter?”

the smaller woman shakes her head. “no. I bought those. with my hard earned money from working at my office job.”

“oh.”

there’s silence between them as the rain pours on. joohyun eyes her without being too obvious— sooyoung is in a beige colored coat and a black beret, while she wore her regular office clothes.

“how did you recognize me? I usually wear a mask at the shelter.” she sits up straighter on the seat.

“you have a peculiar way of walking.” the way sooyoung says it makes it sound like she’s trying not to laugh. “my turn. what happened to your car?”

joohyun heaves a sigh. “I gave it to my sister. no point when I forget where I parked and get a ticket every other week.”

“but getting a ticket gives you an excuse to see me, doesn’t it?” sooyoung teases, like she knows. she probably does. joohyun is kind of obvious. “I’d rather you be forced to buy medicine than voluntarily donate ballpoint pens. has anyone told you you’re an awful gift-giver? I feel like you’re probably an awful gift-giver.”

she tries not to die of embarrassment. “it’s not easy getting newspaper… my sister’s girlfriend has to order in bulk from a junkyard miles away…,” she trails off as the smile on sooyoung’s face widens.

“you really know the way to a girl’s heart, don’t you?” the younger woman asks with a laugh.

joohyun tilts her head. “through parking tickets and newspapers?”

the bus arrives. sooyoung stands up and offers her hand, which joohyun takes. “and around five million ballpoint pens.”


End file.
